After covering the new Online Arena system in details in our two previous memos, we will now discuss others relevant topics related to the Online gaming in Small World 2. Our initial intent was to cover everything in a single memo, but this one is already long enough focusing exclusively on our revised Invitation system, so we will cover the remaining Online topics in follow-up memos.

As with all prior updates, the designs shown here are Photoshop concepts, not actual screenshots. So the end result, once coded, will differ in minor ways.

Online with Buddies

The "Online with Buddies" mode will be quite similar to what you currently have in the game, with the addition of the Turn Game Clock we already discussed. The main difference will come at the start of the process, because we now plan to implement a real invitation system.

Currently (i.e. in the version you play now), you create a game and play the first turn immediately, without waiting for the other player(s) to join your game. The other(s) player(s) only receive a notification of the game you created AFTER you finish your first turn. If they choose to decline your invitation, you have played this turn for no reason. Some players also complained it was unfair, because during your first turn, you could abort the game you created if the combos were not to your liking, and keep repeating the process until you got some combos you felt might be advantageous to you.

Our new Invite system will do two things. First, when someone invites you, you will see an invitation dialog in which you will be able to decline or accept the game right away:

A third button, "See the Invitation" will send you directly to the "Games in Progress" screen (what we internally call "the Ice Cube") to see more details about the game you're invited in and the status of the invitation:

This is the screen that you are already familiar with, except that you can see that the selected game at the top of the Games List has a new hourglass icon, which indicates that the game is in preparation. On the right side, you can see the usual details about the game, and the list of players who already accepted to join the game: they bear a green checkbox on the right.
Push the big "Accept" button to join the fray.
The game will really start only after everyone accept the invitation. If one player declines the invitation, the game is killed.

Next episode: More about Online gaming: bots take-over, ranking, and corner cases

In the Games in Progress screen, there are two slots that say "Pending". Would this mean that two players haven't yet accepted the invitation to play? Or that those slots are waiting to be filled by anyone who wants to join (like the Online Arena)?

If it's possible, I would much rather see all the players who were invited to the game before having to accept just so there is full disclosure. Then I know who will be in the game if everyone accepts the challenge and there aren't any surprises.

In the Games in Progress screen, there are two slots that say "Pending". Would this mean that two players haven't yet accepted the invitation to play? Or that those slots are waiting to be filled by anyone who wants to join (like the Online Arena)?

If it's possible, I would much rather see all the players who were invited to the game before having to accept just so there is full disclosure. Then I know who will be in the game if everyone accepts the challenge and there aren't any surprises.

Supporting!!!
I love the idea that the game starts only when everyone has accepted the invitation, but I would like to see the list of all players participating in the game before accepting it. I know that there are players who don't like to play with me, I would not want to play with anyone who don't like to play with me.